0327-24 NY Times Crossword 27 Mar 24, Wednesday

Constructed by: Rich Katz
Edited by: Joel Fagliano

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): Righty Tighty, Lefty Loosey

Themed answers on the RIGHT of the grid use the word “TIGHT”, and those on the LEFT of the grid use “LOOSE”:

  • 19A With 36-Across, mnemonic device for turning 54-Across … or a hint to the answers to the starred clues : RIGHTY TIGHTY …
  • 9A *Closefitting : SKINTIGHT
  • 35A *”Don’t go anywhere!” : HANG TIGHT!
  • 64A *Rhyming partner of “Good night” : SLEEP TIGHT
  • 36A See 19-Across : … LEFTY LOOSEY
  • 13A *Wiggler in a child’s mouth : LOOSE TOOTH
  • 39A *Like some paper and tea : LOOSE-LEAF
  • 65A *Naval threats, according to an old saying : LOOSE LIPS

Bill’s time: 7m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Classic Camaro : IROC

The IROC-Z is a model of Camaro that was introduced by Chevrolet in 1978. The IROC-Z takes its name from a famous stock car race, the International Race of Champions.

5 Unit equivalent to eight quarts : PECK

A peck is a dry measure of volume equal to a quarter of a bushel. The term can be used figuratively to mean a considerable quantity in general, as in the phrase “a peck of trouble”.

13 *Wiggler in a child’s mouth : LOOSE TOOTH

The tooth fairy is a mythical figure who is said to leave money under the pillow of children who have lost a baby tooth. She is often depicted as a small, winged fairy who flies through the night to collect teeth. I saw an estimate that she collects about 300,000 teeth every night from children all over the world …

14 “It seems to me …,” to a texter : IMHO …

In my humble opinion (IMHO)

15 ___ de gallo : PICO

Pico de gallo is a Mexican condiment made from tomato, onion and chili peppers. “Pico de gallo” is Spanish for “beak of rooster”. Apparently this name was given as eating of the condiment with the thumb and forefinger resembled the pecking of a rooster. An alternative name for pico de gallo is “salsa fresca”, which translates literally as “fresh sauce”.

16 Like someone in pointe shoes, perhaps : ON TOE

“En pointe” is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy, feat (pun!).

17 A bit green : NAUSEATED

Nausea is a sick feeling in the stomach. The term “nausea” derives from the Greek “naus” meaning “ship”. Originally, nausea was associated only with seasickness.

19 With 36-Across, mnemonic device for turning 54-Across … or a hint to the answers to the starred clues : RIGHTY TIGHTY …
36 See 19-Across : … LEFTY LOOSEY

Most threaded devices tighten when turned to the right. Righty tighty, lefty loosey …

21 T that comes before a Y : TAU

Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, and the letter that gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.

Upsilon is the 20th letter in the Greek alphabet, and the character that gives rise to the letter Y that we use in English.

22 Pioneering I.S.P. : AOL

AOL was a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the 1980s and 1990s. The company does still provide dial-up access to the Internet for some subscribers, but most users now access AOL using faster, non-AOL ISPs.

23 Imitation : ERSATZ

Something described as ersatz is a copy, and usually not a good one. “Ersatz” comes from the German verb “ersetzen” meaning “to replace”.

32 Happy as a clam : ELATED

Our phrase “happy as a clam” dates back to the mid-1600s. Back then it was a more lengthy expression: “happy as a clam in the mud at high tide”. The idea was that a clam would be happy in its muddy home at high tide, because no one from land could get to it and eat it.

43 Honest ___ : ABE

Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth President of the US. There are several stories told about how he earned the nickname “Honest Abe”. One story dates back to early in his career as a lawyer. Lincoln accidentally overcharged a client and then walked miles in order to right the wrong as soon as possible.

49 “Blue” river of waltz : DANUBE

Of the many classical composers with the Strauss name, “The Waltz King” was Johann Strauss II from Austria. Among the many beautiful waltzes that Strauss penned are “The Blue Danube” and “Tales from the Vienna Woods”. He also composed the famous operetta “Die Fledermaus”.

53 Stick used for breaking : CUE

The name of the game billiards comes from the French word “billiard” that originally described the wooden cue stick. The Old French “bille” translates as “stick of wood”.

58 Base jumper, e.g. : DAREDEVIL

BASE jumping is parachuting off fixed objects such as buildings or cliffs. The term “BASE” is actually an acronym standing for the four types of objects from which parachutists jump: Buildings, Antennas. Spans/bridges, Earth/cliffs.

61 Characteristic sound of Yoko Ono? : LONG O

All four letters O in “Yoko OnO” are long Os.

65 *Naval threats, according to an old saying : LOOSE LIPS

“Loose lips sink ships” is used as a warning that unguarded talk can be dangerous. The phrase originated during WWII when it was coined by the US War Advertising Council for use on posters.

66 Rosebud in “Citizen Kane,” e.g. : SLED

A central plot line in the 1941 movie “Citizen Kane” is a newsreel reporter’s quest to find the meaning of the dying word “Rosebud” spoken by the title character. Spoiler alert … it is revealed at the end of the movie that “Rosebud” is the name of the sled used by Kane in his childhood, which was the only period of his life in which he was really happy.

67 Some 4x4s : ATVS

All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

Down

1 ___ Islands (home to Corfu) : IONIAN

Corfu is an island in the very northwest of Greece, and is located in the Ionian Sea. Corfu is a very, very popular vacation destination for European tourists, particularly those from the UK, Scandinavia and Germany.

2 Hooch : ROTGUT

In the Klondike gold rush, a favorite tipple of the miners was “Hoochinoo”, a liquor made by the native Alaskans. Soon after “hooch” (also “hootch”) was adopted as a word for cheap whiskey.

3 “But then again …,” to a texter : OTOH …

On the other hand (OTOH)

4 Baker of jazz : CHET

The famous jazz trumpeter Chet Baker was noted for his heroin addiction, a problem that nearly put an end to his performing career. He managed a comeback in the late seventies, mainly appearing and recording in Europe. But he never kicked the drug habit and was found dead one day after falling from his hotel room window in Amsterdam.

5 Bean in refried beans : PINTO

Pinto beans are so-called because their skins have a mottled (“pinto”) appearance.

8 Devoid of pork and shellfish, say : KOSHER

According to Jewish dietary laws, kosher food is fit to eat, and food that is not fit to eat is referred to as treif (or “tref”). The usage of “kosher” has extended to include anything considered legitimate.

9 Neuters : SPAYS

Our verb “to spay”, meaning “to surgically remove the ovaries of” (an animal), comes from an old Anglo-French word “espeier” meaning “to cut with a sword”.

12 Act like a bobblehead : NOD

Bobblehead dolls are those little toys with big heads that bobble around if tapped, while the body remains still. They’re often given to ticket buyers at sports events as a promotion.

13 Rich cake : TORTE

A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour).

28 Surf turf? : REEF

A reef is a ridge of stable material lying beneath the surface of a body of water. They can be made up of sand or rock, and also of coral. The largest coral reef on the planet is Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which stretches over 1,400 miles.

29 ET who once appeared on “Entertainment Tonight” : ALF

“ALF” is a sitcom that aired in the late eighties. The title character is a hand-puppet, and supposedly an alien named Gordon Shumway from the planet Melmac. The alien crash-landed into the house of amateur radio enthusiast Willie Tanner. Tanner renamed the intruder “ALF”, standing for “alien life form”.

30 “American ___” : IDOL

“American Idol” is a spin-off show that was created after the amazing success of the British television show “Pop Idol”. Aired on Fox from 2002 to 2016, the show “jumped ship” and moved to ABC starting in the 2018 season.

33 Small fry : TYKE

Juvenile fish that have just grown to the point where they can feed themselves are known as “fry”. By the end of the 17th century, the phrase “small fry” was common, when referring to such fish. More recently, the phrase was applied figuratively to insignificant people, and then to little children.

34 Name found when reading between the lines? : ELI

The name “Eli” is found hidden in the phrase “the lines”.

35 Lamarr of old film : HEDY

Hedy Lamarr was an American actress who was actually born in Vienna in modern-day Austria. Not only was Lamarr a successful Hollywood performer, during WWII she was the co-inventor of a frequency-hopping, spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals that is still used to this day in wireless communication. Impressive …

39 Timothy Leary’s study : LSD

Timothy Leary was a psychologist and writer, an icon of the sixties counterculture and a promoter of the use of LSD. Leary popularized the phrase “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” in the sixties. After he died, some of Leary’s ashes were “buried” in space, launched aboard a rocket that contained the ashes of 24 other people including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.

40 New ___ (hat brand) : ERA

The New Era Cap Company is a headwear manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York. It is New Era that supplies all the official baseball caps used by the Major League teams.

48 “Once a wolf, always a wolf” coiner : AESOP

“The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is one of Aesop’s fables, and the tale that gives rise to our phrase “to cry wolf” meaning “to give a false alarm”. In the fable, a shepherd boy is in the habit of tricking nearby villagers into thinking a wolf is attacking his flock by crying “Wolf!”. When an actual attack is made, the villages assume it’s another false alarm and the sheep are eaten by the wolf.

51 It might be used while boxing : TWINE

Our word “twine”, meaning “light string”, has the same root as our word “twin”. The original Old English “twin” was a double thread.

52 Did zippo : IDLED

The use of the words “zip” and “zippo” to mean “nothing” dates back to the early 1900s, when it was student slang for being graded zero on a test.

55 “Don’t be ___” (former Google motto) : EVIL

“Don’t be evil” is Google’s corporate motto. The concept is incorporated into one of the company’s formally defined Core Values: “Do the right thing: don’t be evil. Honesty and Integrity in all we do. Our business practices are beyond reproach. We make money by doing good things.”

56 “Casablanca” role : ILSA

Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund were played by Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 movie “Casablanca”. I love the words of one critic describing the chemistry between Bogart and Bergman in this film: “She paints his face with her eyes”. Wow …

57 V, in electronics : VOLT

The volt is a unit of electric potential, or voltage. I always think of electrical voltage as something like water pressure. The higher the pressure of water (voltage), the faster the water flows (the higher the electric current that flows).

58 Where Joe was bidin’ time?: Abbr. : DEL

Future President Joe Biden was a US Senator representing the state of Delaware from 1973 until he joined the Obama administration. While he was a senator, Vice President Biden commuted to Washington from Wilmington, Delaware almost every working day. He was such an active customer and supporter of Amtrak that the Wilmington Station was renamed as the Joseph R. Biden Railroad Station in 2011. Biden has made over 7,000 trips from that station, and the Amtrak crews were known to even hold the last train for a few minutes so that he could catch it. Biden earned himself the nickname “Amtrak Joe”.

59 Chum, in Champagne : AMI

Champagne is made primarily using Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier grapes (both of which are mainly used to make red wine), as well as white Chardonnay grapes. Rosé Champagne is made from a blend of all three grapes, Blanc de noir Champagne from Pinot noir and Pinot Meunier, and Blanc de blanc from 100% Chardonnay.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Classic Camaro : IROC
5 Unit equivalent to eight quarts : PECK
9 *Closefitting : SKINTIGHT
13 *Wiggler in a child’s mouth : LOOSE TOOTH
14 “It seems to me …,” to a texter : IMHO …
15 ___ de gallo : PICO
16 Like someone in pointe shoes, perhaps : ON TOE
17 A bit green : NAUSEATED
19 With 36-Across, mnemonic device for turning 54-Across … or a hint to the answers to the starred clues : RIGHTY TIGHTY …
21 T that comes before a Y : TAU
22 Pioneering I.S.P. : AOL
23 Imitation : ERSATZ
27 Snare : ENTRAP
30 Hot temper : IRE
31 Release following the GameCube : WII
32 Happy as a clam : ELATED
35 *”Don’t go anywhere!” : HANG TIGHT!
36 See 19-Across : … LEFTY LOOSEY
39 *Like some paper and tea : LOOSE-LEAF
41 Prevented from being published : KILLED
42 Asian honorific : SRI
43 Honest ___ : ABE
45 Place for some “me time” : DAY SPA
49 “Blue” river of waltz : DANUBE
51 Knot : TIE
53 Stick used for breaking : CUE
54 Toolbox tools : SCREWDRIVERS
58 Base jumper, e.g. : DAREDEVIL
61 Characteristic sound of Yoko Ono? : LONG O
62 Arab bigwig : EMIR
63 Fork part : TINE
64 *Rhyming partner of “Good night” : SLEEP TIGHT
65 *Naval threats, according to an old saying : LOOSE LIPS
66 Rosebud in “Citizen Kane,” e.g. : SLED
67 Some 4x4s : ATVS

Down

1 ___ Islands (home to Corfu) : IONIAN
2 Hooch : ROTGUT
3 “But then again …,” to a texter : OTOH …
4 Baker of jazz : CHET
5 Bean in refried beans : PINTO
6 Contents of some folders : EMAIL
7 Pound, as a drink : CHUG
8 Devoid of pork and shellfish, say : KOSHER
9 Neuters : SPAYS
10 Footballer’s uniform : KIT
11 Without it, that’s neat : ICE
12 Act like a bobblehead : NOD
13 Rich cake : TORTE
18 Oh, to be in France! : ETRE
20 Talk the ear off : YAP AT
24 Like some league games : AWAY
25 Recyclable material : TIN
26 Veer quickly : ZIG
28 Surf turf? : REEF
29 ET who once appeared on “Entertainment Tonight” : ALF
30 “American ___” : IDOL
33 Small fry : TYKE
34 Name found when reading between the lines? : ELI
35 Lamarr of old film : HEDY
36 Reclined : LAIN
37 Less green, maybe : OLDER
38 ___ green : SEA
39 Timothy Leary’s study : LSD
40 New ___ (hat brand) : ERA
43 First four of a noted series : ABCD …
44 Soft caps : BERETS
46 End of an act, maybe : SCENE V
47 Rids (of) : PURGES
48 “Once a wolf, always a wolf” coiner : AESOP
50 Program operators : USERS
51 It might be used while boxing : TWINE
52 Did zippo : IDLED
55 “Don’t be ___” (former Google motto) : EVIL
56 “Casablanca” role : ILSA
57 V, in electronics : VOLT
58 Where Joe was bidin’ time?: Abbr. : DEL
59 Chum, in Champagne : AMI
60 “Grip it and ___ it!” (golfer’s mantra) : RIP